Echo of the past
by Irishnut666
Summary: Traitor. Thats what they called him. He and his brothers the prototypes. His capture and defeat brought him a chance. A chance to do what they set out to do.
1. Prologue: End of the line

It was a cold winter. The soft snow floated down across the mountains covering them in a velvet blanket. The wind blew softly, disrupting the snows fall into delicate spirals of white dancing in the moonlight. The trees stood hunched under the weight of the snow like Atlas and his great burden. Beneath them nine dark shadows moved silently flitting between them as they moved towards a cabin nearly hidden from view in a clearing among the trees.

They approached slowly as though wary of it never taking their eyes off it. Through the window a fire flickered warmly with invitation. The heat inside seeming like a blessing compared to the bitter cold. They stopped at the edge of the clearing bodies hidden by thick coats. The masks they wore, crude caricatures of human faces. Black and red as though dipped in darkness and splashed with blood. One of the figures, smaller than the rest, took a step forward and called out to the cabin.

"Come out 101102" it called with excitement. "It doesn't have to be this way."

From behind them came the reply, spoken so quietly that several of the group started in surprise.

"Would you have had it any other way... Lara?"

A tall well built man with greying brown hair walked out of the darkness, illuminated by the moonlight. Wearing a pair of old brown jeans and a black t-shirt in the winter's cold as though he did not feel it. His calm was unnerving but the woman seemed amused.

"After all you always preferred a direct confrontation. It's Nathan now by the way"

"How long?" she asked curiously.

"Since before the last rise." He chuckled "You have gotten sloppy with age Lara you reek of perfume and arrogance. I could never forget such a powerful stench." The woman stiffened. "Your attempt at subtlety was rather poor. Granted, it was helped by the children you travel with. They at least are quieter than you"

He walked slowly towards the group who parted as he approached; they backed away as he walked toward the woman.

"But then you are getting what you wanted for a long time aren't you. Here I thought our threat was sufficient to keep you all away. But they wanted us dead no question about that. No the real question is: Who cares so, that you were subtle."

He stopped in front of her.

"You didn't use public transport. You walked in, instead of using a chopper. You didn't stop at the village, I would have known. Someone wants to be sure that you and they are not connected with my death... or rather a poor approximation of it"

He stares at the mask as she stares at him. His eyes a cool blue that bored into the mask, seeing the face that lay beneath.

"But the bigger question is how you knew where to look. Only seven people knew where I was and they were as good as I am at staying hidden."

He looked up at the sky thoughtfully before looking at the woman again.

"How are your scars?" He asked as he started to circle her. "Has it really been ten years since I gave you them?"

The woman's head turned to his sharply. Her reply rang with hatred.

"I will kill you for that half breed."

The man stopped threw back his head and laughed. It went on for a time his deep baritone echoing across the clearing. When he suddenly stopped and looked to her again. With a smile on his face he said.

"You may try."

He looked around at the group watching, looking at each individually as if memorising what they looked like even through the coats and masks. He seemed to hesitate then spoke again.

"And you still have a perchance for amateur dramatics. What are they? Obedient cannon fodder? The masks are amusing though, do they have a meaning"

He looked back at her.

"Or do they for covering your shame?"

This time she laughed.

"It covers their own traitor. But what right have you to judge me? I am HUMAN! You are a pale copy given gifts that you turned against your creators. You're life- givers. You're Gods!!"

Her mask turned to him appearing to leer in malevolence at him.

"But what do I have to be ashamed of exactly? All I have done is removed freaks who did not deserve their power. We removed those as undeserving as the masses they claimed to stand for. The world would not blame me for removing blights such as yours from the face of the earth."

The man stared at her. Then answered calmly

"You did not understand then and you do not understand now! One hundred men Lara. All of us different! All of us unique! We were to be mans guardians! Their shield against all that would have taken from them! Their blade in the night! Instead we were used by small minded men for their own advantage. We were tools for a government that had forgotten its purpose and lost its way!"

He took a step forward and glared at her.

"The All-Father would never forgive us if we had let this stand let alone Mother. If we obeyed ones such as you we would have been condemning mankind to a fate worse than the Nazis."

She chuckled evilly.

"Your generation always did have a thing for that bitch. "

"You know nothing of her! She gave us a piece of herself and told us of the All-Father. She gave us an identity, a sense of self. She helped us free ourselves from you when we found out your plans."

"You think she and you're kind stopped us?"

She turned to those in the group behind her.

"Take off your masks..."

The other figures removed their coats and masks. Each one was identical. They wore Black jumpsuits with no insignia or marking but for a series of six numbers on the right breast. Combat boots with a knife strapped above the left shin and a handgun at the left hip.

Each one with brown hair and ice blue eyes.

The woman spoke as she removed her mask revealing a pale aquiline face framed by dark brown hair that would have been described as beautiful except for three scars running from her right cheek to her above her right eye. Green eyes sparkling with triumph.

"Your 'mother' may have destroyed the files and samples but she forgot that we make copies of everything. We are proud to say that we have improved on her premise. The barren bitch would be surprised by how much we knew. As you can see your 'cousins' are a more up to date product. Each one better trained than you, faster than you but most importantly more obedient. They can't say no. They are already blooded as well, more than up to what we have planned."

The man took a step back in shock and stared at them.

"Impossible we destroyed everything. The lab, the training grounds, the pieces of the All-Father were all destroyed. I watched them burn with the bodies. Where did you get the DNA..."

But what the women had said rose to the surface. He whispered.

"...Blooded?"

She started to chuckle in malicious glee.

"Yes, Blooded. Fitting that this generation should hunt down the last of the previous a true baptism of fire for them. Where else would they have the ultimate challenge, test for their effectiveness than by eliminating their forebears?"

She smiled sweetly enjoying his growing fear.

"But it has been disappointing so far. The other seven were quite weak. Unlike you they did not keep up their skills. Some of them even had the audacity to breed with their betters."

Her smile widened.

"Such crimes against nature cannot be allowed to live..."

She trailed off enjoying the way the man's eyes lit up with righteous anger then continued on.

"We tortured them all of course. They were quite talkative once their loved ones were tortured in front of them. Every single one told us were you were. But we couldn't pass up a training exercise in torture and interrogation now could we. Not with so many...subjects"

She turned and gestured at one of the figures.

"201352 here was particularly good in dealing with the children. I think he likes their screams best."

She turned to face him again a self satisfied grin on her face.

"But we have not come here to talk have we so let's get this over with."

He took a moment to calm himself then looked at the men. These men had harmed his brothers and their families.

He eyed the one the women had gestured to.

"You...dealt...with the children"

"Yes"

He looked indifferently at him for a moment then looked into each of their eyes in turn. Searching for something but finding nothing. But they all stiffened when he cracked his neck. He smirked now.

"Lara... you should know never to bring puppies to fight a wolf."

Then he moved, crossing the distance between him and the group in a split second. He reached out and grabbed the head of the man and wrenched it to the side. A sickening crack rang out as the man's neck broke. The look of shock in the man's dying eyes brought a smirk to his face. These were not his brothers. The children would be at peace now.

"There is a reason for the saying long in the tooth."

He wanted to laugh but he knew it would not be appropriate as the others charged him.

The first moved in with a lightning fast strike with a knife. He bent backwards dodging the strike. While simultaneously kicking the dead body at numbers three and four. Five and six had drawn their side arms and were waiting for a clear shot. Seven was standing watching, no analysing him. He rolled to the side just as five fired with six firing at where he would have been if he had not pushed Ki into his legs to jump as he rolled. Bouncing of a tree he kicked a stone at them. Just as three and four reached him. Three landed a rabbit punch to his chest pushing him back into fours roundhouse kick. Ducking fours return kick he reached up and grabbed the knife from fours leg holster moving forward and ramming it into his groin artery and twisted. Four screamed in pain. He released his grip 

just in time to receive a Ki enhanced punch to the sternum from one. He flew back a few feet. He looked up. Three and one were advancing five and six were drawing beads on him but were was seven...

Seven reappeared above him in a descending axe kick to the back of his head. He crashed to the ground just as five and six fired. The first round struck him in the chest ripping through his lower lung. The second went through his left shoulder. Mentally chanting a mantra he quickly started to focus Ki to the sites. Seven planted another kick to the head contemptuously.

"You are not fit to lick our boots old one."

Lifting his foot to deliver another kick he spat on him. While seven was distracted he was channelling Ki to both his arms. As the boot descended he grabbed it and twisted. Another bone splintering sound echoed across the clearing as he twisted the leg right around and pulled. Seven screamed and fell. Grabbing his knife out of the holster he charged it with Ki and threw it at five. The knife sank through his forehead like butter. Five collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.

Three kicked him in the head. His vision was starting to spin. One stabbed him through the elbow. He screamed as six fired again this time through his left lung. He collapsed to the ground and knew no more.

When he came to he didn't move. With his eyes closed he listened to the surroundings.

"He's awake."

A boot crashed into his chest. He stifled a scream. He had been out maybe ten hours judging by the damage to his lungs. They hadn't healed yet.

"He was better than expected."

He opened his eyes.

"In my day we didn't hunt defenceless children for training." He spat.

Another kick to the chest. With a voice filled with satisfaction the woman spoke.

"Let him up I want him to know what's about to happen to him."

He was roughly pulled to his feet and held there.

"For the record 101102 I wanted you alive. That's why they weren't as rough with you but I'm still surprised. Two dead, two injured one fatally. I wanted the others alive but they didn't even injure them. You did well. It shows that the new stock is good. But down to business."

She stepped forward and stabbed him in the chest.

"That was for your betrayal."

She wrenched out the knife and swung. The knife cut up his face from the left side of his chin and up across his eye.

"And that is for my face."

Dropping the knife she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a device. It was matt black shaped like an egg that had been cut in half.

"This little device is special. I stole it from the labs myself. The science people call it a disintegrator. I think it's very cool. I was there when they tested it. On inanimate objects it...Well disintegrates them. But on organic objects well let's say it disintegrates, cooks and melts them. From the inside out. They showed its effects on pigs. It took half an hour to die. Screaming in pain as half its body disappeared and the other melted. Now I can't help but wonder what would happen to a Human. How musical would that be. Shall we find out 101102?"

She pushed the device onto his chest and flicked a switch. He started to scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!"

"So beautiful 101102. Louder sing louder for me!"

He could feel it burning through him a white hot pain coursing through his veins. Instinctively he brought his Ki to bear. For what felt like an eternity it did nothing. Then it changed. The Ki started to change in the energy becoming strange. Like a mirror. an inversion of Ki. He tried to stop the flow but couldn't. The energy just kept pulling more in. More and more Ki kept flowing to the device as though attracted to it. Faintly he could hear shouts of alarm. But all he could see was a kaleidoscope of colours, following on and on changing and flowing one into another like a rope with no end. Then he knew no more.

The woman stood up. The body was gone nothing, was left. She started to smile. Pocketing the device she turned around and looked at what remained of her men. They were noticeably paler.

"Pack up and get ready to move out. Bag the bodies and let's go."


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto.

Thought for the day:

All things change; nothing perishes.

-Ovid, Metamorphoses

**Chapter 1:**

Finding

In a moon lit clearing surrounded by imposing trees a deer grazed. Its pleasant meal interrupted by the constant awareness of danger. A loud crack caused it to run into the trees, melting into the darkness. Lightening flowed over the clearing coalescing in the centre. Folding in on itself again and again creating an outline of a man. The sparks lit the grass on fire and scorched the earth. The outline filled and the screaming began. The shape filled out and coloured as the man was fully revealed. Then the lightening stopped just as suddenly as it came and the man stopped screaming and collapsed into unconsciousness. The fires in the clearing smouldered for some time before going out and all that was left was a man on scorched earth.

He woke slowly the pain blinding his senses. Gritting his teeth he turned over stifling a scream of pain. His back arcing as his muscles spasmed. Crushing his scream he waited for the pain to die. When it lapsed he took a long pained breath and ran a diagnostic. The knife and gunshot wounds were bad. He was bleeding out. His lungs were perforated, barely whole and his Ki was near gone. The healing brought on by his augmentations wouldn't be enough. He would die here. He tried to laugh but all that would come out was a crackled gurgle.

This was it. This would be how he died. Bleeding and alone somewhere in a forest for the scavengers to feast on. There was a sound as soft as a feather, someone was approaching with barely a sound to his right. They had come to finish him off. A blurred figure appeared over his face. He tried to smile but it became a grimace of pain. Looking up he whispered:

"I'm still more Human than You"

But the final blow didn't come. Instead the figure said something in a language that was familiar but mixed. Was that Japanese? There was a strange light as a hand covered his head and he knew no more.

A dog masked ANBU stood on a tree branch hidden from view by a minor Genjutsu. The watch had been uneventful and in light of the past week it was a grateful sight. None of the other villages had noticed yet and the news would not reach them for another few days. The Kyuubi attack was not something they could hide. Cloud and Earth still held a grudge for the events that ended the war. All it needed was a spark and it would begin again.

Suddenly on the edge of his senses he picked up a strange chakra signature. It was contorted, twisted in a way that tickled his memory. Then he heard the scream. He bunched his fist raising it above his shoulder then opened it and brought it down, signalling his team to follow. In a burst of speed he silently jumped from his branch in the direction of the chakra signature.

They travelled for several miles before coming upon a clearing with the body of a man. The dog mask watched warily waiting for signs of a trap to be made known. The body suddenly came alive, arcing its back and gurgling bloodily. The pain of the man, as it was now apparent, was obvious to see. The body settled back into place and it was clear the man was trying not to move. When no sign of ambush became apparent he brought his hand up, made a fist and raised two fingers and sharply brought them forward indicating that the first two squad members were to enter the clearing. Seeing their acknowledgement he and the other two members circled the clearing looking for enemy presence.

The owl and ape shaped mask ANBU approached the body it was still and badly damaged but the movement of the chest indicated that the man still lived. Moving quickly the owl masked woman knelt by the body of the man. He was in bad shape and needed immediate attention. She thanked the ANBU requirement of basic first aid and readied an anaesthetic Jutsu. Hopefully he would be alright. They needed to know were he came from and how he got so close to the village without alerting the watchers. If it was not for the captains superior senses they would not have picked up on it. The lack of numbers were stretching the ANBU thin. Looking closer at him she was surprised to find his eyes and facial structure looked different to hers. His features pricked her memory but she could not think where she had seen them before. He was taller than most men of the village and broader. She shook her head. Interrogation would get what they needed out of him. The man was looking at her , he tried to smile but it came out a grimace and then he spoke in a language she had never heard before. It was harsh and guttural compared to her own and sounded quite barbaric.

"That had better have been a thank you." she said.

Checking him over she found his face had been slashed there were stab wounds to the chest but also there were strange wounds that looked like holes that entered then excited his chest on either side what could have caused that would have to wait. as also had major internal bleeding. He was lucky to be alive. A twinge on her senses indicated that the rest of her squad had arrived.

"Is he Alive?" said the dog mask

"Yes captain, though by the looks of it he shouldn't be alive let alone speaking."

"He spoke to you?"

"Yes sir, though it was not in any language I am familiar with."

The dog masked man looked up in thought.

"Pop a flare and mark the spot. Ape carry him. Owl watch him and keep him alive he may have something we need to know."

They nodded in in affirmation. The man in the ape mask reached down and picked up the man gingerly careful not to put any pressure of his chest lest more damage be caused. As one they leapt for the trees carrying leaving behind nothing but silence and scorched earth. In the ape masks arms the slash on his face slowly began to close.


End file.
